The Blob (1958)
The Blob is a 1950's monster/cult movie produced by Jack Harris and directed by Irvin Yeaworth. The film stars Steve McQueen (in his film debut) and Aneta Corsaut. It was created by Paramount Pictures. The movie is about an evil alien substance that crash lands on Earth in a meteorite. The monster has no body parts, brain, or personality. However, it feeds on any living thing. The more it consumes, the larger it grows. Worse, it is nearly invincible. This is the story of two teenagers who neede to convince their small town in Pensylvania that the monster is a danger to their city. Plot In a small rural Pennsylvania town in July 1957, teenager Steve Andrews (Steve McQueen) and his girlfriend, Jane Martin (Aneta Corsaut), are kissing at a lovers' lane when they see a meteorite crash beyond the next hill; Steve decides to look for it. An old man (Olin Howland) living nearby finds it first. When he pokes the meteorite with a stick, it breaks open, and a small jelly-like blob inside attaches itself to his hand. In pain and unable to scrape or shake it loose, the old man runs onto the road, where he is nearly struck by Steve's car; Steve and Jane take him to Doctor Hallen (Stephen Chase). Doctor Hallen anesthetizes the man and sends Steve and Jane back to locate the impact site and gather information. Hallen decides he must amputate the man's arm since it is being consumed. Before he can, The Blob completely consumes the old man, then Hallen's nurse, and finally the doctor himself, all the while continuing to grow. Steve and Jane return in time for Steve to witness the doctor's death. They leave and go to the police station and return with Lieutenant Dave (Earl Rowe) and Sergeant Bert (John Benson). There is no sign, however, of The Blob or its victims, and Bert dismisses Steve's story as a teenage prank. Steve and Jane are taken home by their parents, but they later sneak out. In the meantime, The Blob consumes a mechanic at a repair shop and grows in size every time it consumes something. At the Colonial Theater, which is showing a midnight screening of Daughter of Horror, Steve recruits Tony (Robert Fields) and some of his friends to warn people about The Blob. When Steve notices that his father's grocery store is unlocked, he and Jane go inside. The janitor is nowhere to be seen. Then the couple is cornered by The Blob; they seek refuge in the walk-in freezer. The Blob oozes in under the door but quickly retreats. Steve and Jane gather their friends and set off the town's fire and air-raid alarms. The townspeople and police still refuse to believe Steve. Meanwhile, The Blob enters the Colonial Theater and engulfs and devours the projectionist before oozing into the auditorium, consuming a number of the audience. Steve is finally vindicated when screaming people leave the theater in a panic. Jane, Danny, and Steve become trapped in the diner, along with the manager and a waitress. The Blob, now enormous and blood red from the people it has consumed, has engulfed the building. Dave has a connection made from his police radio to the diner's telephone, telling those in the diner to get into the cellar before they bring down a live power line onto The Blob. When the live wire lands, it discharges a massive electrical current into The Blob, but it is unaffected and the diner is set ablaze. When the diner manager uses a carbon dioxide extinguisher on the fire, Steve notices that this causes the Blob to recoil. Steve remembers that it also retreated from the freezer, saying "That's why it didn't come in the ice box after us. It can't stand cold"! Shouting in hopes of being picked up on the open phone line, Steve tells Dave about the Blob's vulnerability to cold. Jane's father, Mr. Martin (Elbert Smith), leads Steve's friends to the high school to retrieve the 20 fire extinguishers there. Returning, the brigade of fire extinguisher-armed students and police first drive The Blob away from the diner, then freeze it, saving Steve, Jane, and the others. Dave requests authorities send an Air Force heavy-lift cargo aircraft to transport the Blob to the Arctic, where it is later parachuted to the ice and snow pack. Dave says that while The Blob is not dead, at least it has been stopped. To this, Steve Andrews replies, "Yeah, as long as the Arctic stays cold". ("The End" title card morphs into a question mark. Cast * Steve McQueen as Steve Andrews (credited as Steven McQueen) * Aneta Corsaut as Jane Martin * Earl Rowe as Lieutenant Dave * Olin Howland as Old Man * Stephen Chase as Dr. Hallen * John Benson as Sergeant Jim Bert * George Karas as Officer Ritchie * Lee Payton as Kate * Elbert Smith as Mr. Martin * Hugh Graham as Mr. Andrews * Keith Almoney as Danny Martin